Tied together
by Lavareef
Summary: The unimaginable had happened to Haruka and Makoto. They had lost a bet with Nagisa and had earned themselves some prison time. They had to be handcuffed to each other for at least 48 hours. To add up on their misery they have to complete 10 challenges to earn back their freedom. They had always been close but how would they embrace the lingering feelings between them?
1. Tied Together

_**Tied together**_

'You have got to be kidding Nagisa!' Haruka exclaimed as he looked at his left hand. He could see Makoto's hand dangling next to it because handcuffs were firmly placed around their wrists.

'A bet is a bet Haru-chan! You brought this on yourself!' Nagisa started laughing loudly at the duo in front of him.

Never in a million years did Haruka think this would happen to him. He was the King when it came to playing games on the playstation. Why did he lose to Nagisa so easily? The bastard probably cheated to win. He would have enjoyed seeing Nagisa and Rei tied up but this wasn't the case. Now he became trapped and had to spend 48 hours together with Makoto rather closely. He had always loved being close to Makoto but this was just ridiculous.

'Well, I have set up a sheet of paper with all the rules and the challenges you two have to complete.' Nagisa said with a gleeful smile. One day, Haruka might have to wipe that smile off Nagisa's face.

'I am off you two, I will come free you in 48 hours! Have fun!' Nagisa shouted as he walked out the door effectively leaving Haruka and Makoto alone.

It had dawned on Haruka that Makoto had not uttered a word since they had become tied up. Perhaps he was also very distressed at the thought of being extremely close for 48 hours.

'Let's go over the rules quickly' Makoto whispered softly as he grabbed the piece of paper.

_You have 48 hours to complete the ten challenges listed below. Should you fail to do so, 5 hours will be added to your 'prison' time until you complete the entire list._

_You are not allowed to break the cuffs with any tool. Should you do this, you will be punished severely._

_Haruka - I will steal all of your swimming pants and rip them to shreds._

_Makoto - I will lock you in a basement away from Haruka for at least 36 hours._

_Challenges that have to be completed_

_Bake a cake_

_Go swimming_

_Play the piano and sing a song_

_Go to the supermarket and buy the following items: Condoms, rose petals, a bottle of champagne, 4 candles and Vaseline._

_Have your romantic fun in the tub!_

_Follow a yoga video and do all of the poses._

_Jump over a rope 100 times._

_Have a photoshoot in your swimming pants_

_Beat the 'Supermeat boy' game_

_Make a drawing together._

'I am so not doing these challenges' Haruka scoffed as he looked at the sheet of paper. What was Nagisa thinking? Like he would go to a store to buy condoms while tied together with the olive-haired male. This was ridiculous and Haruka wanted none of this shit.

'That it, I am going to my basement to get my saw.' Haruka said fiercely while dragging Makoto behind him.

'Haru! We can't! We'll get punished even more.' Makoto whined while being dragged towards the basement.

Haruka was stopped in his tracks and he looked at Makoto. The latter was trying very hard to suppress a smile that would make every girl in the world fall in love. Was he actually enjoying this game?

'Are you enjoying this?' Haruka asked softly while looming closer to Makoto.

'Maybe.' The emerald eyes God said softly while biting his lip.

Haruka started ferociously tickling Makoto and the latter started laughing so loud that it made Haruka's ears ring.

Makoto couldn't take it anymore and fell to the ground, effectively dragging Haruka along with him. On the way down Haruka had a close encounter with the edge of his dining table. This was going to be a true nightmare. He rubbed his forehead in agony and wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

'We have to work together in order to make this work out.' Makoto said with a warm smile as he looked at Haruka. Makoto was right, he was always right and it made Haruka feel a little bit annoyed.

'Let's do this thing then.' Haruka said with determination and they both crawled to their feet.

They both looked at the sheet of paper again and noted that they had to record each challenge. They looked at all the supplies that were left by Nagisa. At least he had the decency to leave everything they needed for the challenges.

'What should we do first?' Makoto asked while they were rummaging through all of the items.

'I think we should bake the cake first.' Haruka said while picking out things to use for this challenge.

The best friends had a hard time picking out the ingredients because their coordination wasn't exactly working that well. In the process they had managed to drop two eggs, let the bag of flour fall to the ground and meet an explosion of flour all over the kitchen.

'Have you ever had the feeling you wanted to cut off Nagisa's balls?' Haruka said while cleaning up the mess they had made. The comment made Makoto laugh and he agreed with a forceful nod.

'Ok, now that everything is clean and is sorted out neatly, we can finally begin making this cake.' Makoto said while smiling warmly at his mate. Of course they had been recording this challenge and Nagisa would probably die of laughter when he saw the accidents that they had in the kitchen before even preparing the cake.

'Do you even know how to make a cake?' Haruka examined Makoto while he knew that his cooking was limited to toast with mackerel or mackerel with pineapple.

'Well, I've seen my mum do it more than once so we should be fine.'

Makoto turned around rather forcefully to preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Haruka stumbled behind him rather clumsily.

'You could at least say something when you plan to move around.' Haruka whined while inspecting the actions of his friend. He thought it was funny when Makoto moved his right hand that his left hand followed it like a puppet.

'Sorry! I sometimes forget we are tied up together.' Makoto's apology was soft and sweet.

'How can you forget?' Haruka whispered softly as they turned back to the rest of the ingredients.

A little while later the two friends placed their precious batter in the over. It had taken them one hour and a half to prepare. Haruka had felt a great respect towards bakers now that he had experienced what it felt like to bake a cake. Normally you wouldn't be tied to someone else, but still.

'What should we do while waiting for the cake to bake?' Makoto asked while turning to meet the raven-haired boy's gaze.

'I don't know, you can pick out the next challenge.' Haruka said and then turned his head to stare out of the window. He could be having a nice day at the beach, soaking up all the water he could possibly manage.

'We could already practice playing the piano.'

'Fine.' was all Haruka muttered. Playing the piano was something that Makoto enjoyed doing when he was alone. Of course, Haruka was allowed to hear Makoto play but the thought of him playing and even singing made Haruka shiver. Perhaps he would pop Makoto's eardrum with his singing.

They both sat down behind the keyboard and Makoto looked at Haruka expectantly.

'What? Do you think I can play too? Why are you looking at me like that?' Haruka suddenly felt extremely shy and he quickly looked away. Sure, he had tried to play but the sound that he made was… well it was bad enough to start crying.

'No, I don't think you can play but we do need to pick out a song. Nagisa left a bunch of songs behind to choose from.'

'But these are all love songs!' Haruka whined while going through the list.

'Just choose something.' Makoto demanded as he waited rather impatiently for his friend's decision.

Haruka closed his eyes and then pointed his finger randomly at the page.

'I can be your hero.' Makoto whispered softly while looking at Haruka.

Haruka felt a warm blush creeping up on his cheeks. Of course Makoto had saved his countless times before but he felt like this was a confession of love. Haruka blinked at Makoto a couple of times, bracing himself for the soft lips of his friend. He couldn't believe Makoto would actually confess his love for him. It made him feel happy and awkward at the same time.

'You do realize I mean the song. Look, you finger points at that song.'

Haruka was rudely awakened from his daydream and he felt extremely embarrassed. He could picture Makoto bring this up at every chance he got.

'I knew that!' He spluttered while avoiding eye contact with the olive-haired male.

'First let me try it out and just follow my lead. Then we'll practice and I will use my left hand and you will use your right hand.' Makoto explained while examining the rosy glow on Haruka's cheeks.

Makoto softly started playing and Haruka took this as an opportunity to eye his friend closely. Makoto's eyes looked so soft yet strong and determined. His nose was probably the cutest one in the entire town. Haruka didn't like people with ugly noses, it was a huge turn-off for him! Other than the fact that the people he hung out with better be fond of water! Haruka smiled as he saw Makoto's head sway softly while playing this precious piece of music.

Before Haruka reaslised Makoto was done playing he was staring at the olive-haired male like he was high on drugs.

'Did you take drugs or something? You've been acting really weird.' Makoto uttered his annoyance while Haruka just continued to stare.

'What did you say?' Haruka looked up to see Makoto grinning like an idiot. He decided not to comment any further because Makoto sometimes had this funny little moments with himself. Makoto laughed by himself more than once when there was absolutely nothing to laugh with.

'Ready to practice?' Makoto inquired softly and Haruka nodded stoically. Makoto wasn't going to get the best of him just yet.

The two boys were so engrossed in their practice that they didn't notice the burning smell in the kitchen. Makoto had already pulled at his own hair at least twice when Haruka screwed up the song royally.

'Why do you always keep pressing the wrong keys?' Makoto sobbed to himself quietly. They were never going to complete all the challenges in 48 hours. Three hours had already passed and they had only baked a cake and played the piano.

Makoto jumped up and dragged Haruka behind him.

'What the fuck are you doing?!' Haruka shouted as he got dragged around the house.

'The cake!' was all that Makoto shouted and when Haruka saw his kitchen he was about to faint. The entire kitchen was engulfed in a thick cloud of black smoke. The smell was horrible and Haruka imagined he would be smelling this for days. They opened the oven and more smoke was coming their way. Makoto grabbed the cake and dumped it in the sink that was filled with water from doing the dishes. Black pieces of cake started floating around in the water, finally receiving the coolness they deserved.

A little while later, all the smoke was cleared and the two sat by the table sulking like two small children. At least Nagisa wouldn't have that embarrassing moment on tape as they were filming their piano moments.

'We really suck at this.' Makoto whispered softly while staring at the cup of tea in his hand. It was rather hard to admit because the two friends were always together. What difference would it make if they were actually tied up? They both thought it wouldn't be as hard but they were sadly mistaken.

'Makoto?' Haruka whispered softly.

'Yes?'

'I have to pee.' They both stared at each other with absolute horror. Of course they hadn't thought of the fact that sooner or later, they would have to go to the bathroom. Together.

**I thought of this story while I was laying in my bed tossing and turning yesterday. I had a really crappy day since I saw the new episode. I was so not pleased that Haruka lost! :(**

**Anyway, this will probably be a story with three chapters or so :) Hope you enjoyed and stay tuned to see how the two Gods will complete the rest of their challenges and fall in love.**


	2. Awkward sighs and moans

_**Awkward sighs and moans**_

Awkwardly they stared at the toilet. How were they going to make this work? Haruka couldn't imagine relieving himself while Makoto was standing so close. He felt his heart work overtime and his bladder was also alive and kicking.

'Can't you just go?' Makoto whined softly as he looked at the red cheeks of his best friend.

'How am I supposed to go when you are standing so close, at least you could try to turn around or something?' Haruka whispered softly. Of course he had been the one that needed to pee first. Why couldn't Makoto feel ashamed just this once?

'How can I turn around? You will need your hand to hold your… well you know what I mean!' Makoto exclaimed loudly.

'But what if you accidentally touch it?' Haruka was feeling desperate. Of course Nagisa saw that this moment was coming and he wondered how Nagisa could live with himself and all of his evil schemes.

'Just go already' Makoto pleaded softly and promised Haruka that he would at least close his eyes.

They both shuffled closer to the toilet and Haruka lifted the seat up. He glanced up at Makoto and saw that the olive-haired male had his eyes closed. However, he also noted that Makoto was struggling to hold in his laughter. Another moment that would haunt Haruka for the rest of his life.

Haruka took a deep breath and opened his pants to let his most prized attachment out. He closed his eyes and tried to relax. It wasn't easy because he could hear Makoto softly breathing besides him.

'Are you going to go or what?' Makoto said agitated because he knew that Haruka still hadn't found his relief.

'I can't go when you are standing so close…' Haruka whined silently. If this ordeal would last any longer he would be more than happy to sacrifice all his swimming pants to the devil in person.

Makoto started humming because it was taking so long and he became bored.

'Your humming won't help me at all!' Haruka shouted as he looked at his best friend. He would just have to wait and then give Makoto a taste of his own medicine when he finally needed to go to the toilet.

Haruka moaned appreciatively as he finally felt his body relax and relieve himself from that full bladder.

'See, that wasn't so difficult.' Makoto peeked at Haruka and he was met with a face plastered with shock.

'You said you weren't going to look!' Haruka exclaimed as the last droplets fell in the toilet.

'Well, I obviously lied.' Makoto scoffed.

Haruka grumbled something that cannot be understood and he zipped up his pants again. He flushed the toilet and put the lid down again.

'Can you move with me to the sink please?' Haruka asked nicely as he noted that Makoto was enjoying the torturing moment far too much.

They moved to the sink and Haruka washed his hands with a little bit of help from Makoto. It wasn't easy to move his left hand around that much.

'So, what about the next challenge? I think we should stay away from the piano for a little while.' Makoto said with a warm smile on his face.

Haruka thought about the challenges and there was nothing that he would want to do right now.

'I know! Let's do the yoga!' Makoto said cheerfully as he dragged Haruka back down. Makoto placed the yoga DVD in the player and they watched closely as the DVD-player was doing its thing.

'This takes an entire hour!' was all that Haruka could say. They would be crawling and rolling around on the floor in the most awkward positions and it would take an entire hour.

'It does seem quite fun.' Makoto said cheerfully. Of course Makoto didn't mind this at all, he clearly didn't realize what yoga was. Haruka wasn't enthused that he would have to trust his beautiful butt in the air while stretching. Perhaps Makoto had no idea what yoga was. Haruka sighed deeply and they both sat down on the ground following the instructions of the DVD carefully.

First they had to completely relax and think of something very pleasant. They both breathed in and started relaxing as much as possible. Makoto could feel Haruka's hand gently brushing against his and he felt comfortable. To be honest, Makoto didn't mind that they were tied together. They had always had this unbreakable bond and this was one of those moments that they would remember for the rest of their lives.

They both looked at the TV because it was time to really start exercising.

'How are we supposed to do that?!' Makoto exclaimed loudly as he saw the position that they were supposed to be in. Haruka laughed at Makoto as the latter finally realized that yoga wasn't easy at all. They lied down on their stomachs and tried to attempt the cobra-position.

'How long do we have to stay like this?' Makoto whined loudly as he felt his muscles tighten in places he had never known he had muscles. They had to keep their legs close to the ground as they pushed their torso upwards. Makoto looked at Haruka and he seemed to have accepted his fate and watched the DVD closely.

After 50 minutes of agony they were ready to do the final pose. They had both laughed a lot at their own expense. Makoto was usually the one to lose his balance and effectively dragging Haruka to join him in a fall or a bump against the TV cabinet. The last pose was relatively simple. They had to trust their behinds in the air and make their body look like the top of a triangular. Makoto relaxed as best as he could and turned to look at his friend. He couldn't help but notice Haruka's beautiful sculptured behind. It wasn't the first time that Makoto had looked at Haruka's ass, but he had never been so close to Haruka while looking.

'Why are you looking at my ass?' Haruka whispered softly while smiling mischievously at Makoto. Now Haruka could finally bask in the embarrassment that could clearly be seen on Makoto's face.

Makoto hadn't dared to make a comment and he just stared at the TV to look at how long they would have to hold this position. One more minute to go and this torture would finally be over.

The instructions lady announced that the lesson was over and Makoto breathed out a moan of relief. This ordeal was over and he couldn't wait to do something else.

'It wasn't that bad actually.' Haruka said while smiling at Makoto. Haruka knew that this was utter torture for Makoto.

'It was horrible and I don't ever want to do something like this again!' Makoto scoffed as he let himself slump against the ground. He closed his eyes and felt himself relax. He stretched out his arm and he could feel Haruka's hand on his own.

'Let's just take a little nap.' Haruka said softly as they had both stared at their hands. They locked their fingers together and drifted off to their own little and private dreamland.

Haruka groaned and moaned loudly as he opened his sleepy eyes. Makoto was still lying beside him smiling in his sleep. He looked so cute and adorable and Haruka treasured the small moment of peace. Makoto didn't know Haruka was staring so this could be kept a secret. Haruka slowly brushed his fingers against Makoto's warm cheek and the latter hummed appreciatively.

'That's the spot' Makoto slowly said and Haruka quickly retracted his hand. Why was Makoto talking to him while he was clearly still asleep? Haruka remembered that Makoto often talks in his sleep but he had never paid attention to it. One night Makoto had screamed so loud that Haruka nearly pissed himself because it sounded like a dying damsel in some sort of horror movie.

Makoto started groaning and moaning and Haruka wondered what his friend was dreaming of. Haruka stayed as silent as possible as he let Makoto sleep a little while longer.

'Hmmmmmm, Haru.' Makoto moaned softly and then Haruka realized that the olive-haired male was probably having some sort of sensual and erotic dream. Haruka wondered if Makoto was really dreaming about him.

'Haru-chan! Please don't stop.' Makoto moaned softly as he moved his tied up hand closer to his body. Haruka shuffled a bit closer and it was hard not to start laughing. He was enjoying this far too much. He couldn't wait for Makoto to wake up and then Haruka would let him have it!

'Makoto, you sexy animal!' Haruka whispered softly and he slowly brushed Makoto's ear in the process.

Makoto opened his eyes and was greeted by a goofy grin that had formed on Haruka's face.

'Why are you so close?' Makoto asked softly as he tried to remember where they were and what they were doing. It soon dawned on Makoto that a little problem had formed southwards and he felt like dying. Why did this have to happen to him now?

'How are you feeling?' Haruka teased his friend with a big smile. Makoto couldn't help but wonder whether Haruka knew what had been forming in Makoto's pants.

'I'm fine.' Makoto scoffed as he turned to look away. Luckily they had been laying on their stomach so Haruka couldn't have possibly seen what had happened down there.

'Are you ready for the next challenge?' Haruka looked at Makoto expectantly. He knew that once Makoto turned around he would torture his friend.

'Can't we just stay like this for a little while longer? My muscles hurt from the yoga lesson.' Makoto said softly. Truth be told, he felt perfectly fine but he wasn't sure what Haruka was up to.

'Sure, but can we at least turn around then? I don't want to lay on my stomach anymore.' Haruka said while grinning at Makoto.

Makoto took a deep breath but complied with Haruka's wishes and they turned around. Makoto quickly used his free arm to cover up the bulge in his pants. Could this be anymore humiliating? He shivered when he thought of the fact that he would have to share a bed with his best friend at night.

'So, will you talk to me about your dream?' Haruka whispered softly while looking at the olive-haired male.

'I don't remember.' Makoto whispered while trying to hide his embarrassment.

'Well, I can always refresh your memory.' Haruka teased as he flashed the tip of his tongue to lick his lips.

'How would you know what I dreamed about?' Makoto tried to fake disinterest but alarm bells were loudly ringing in his mind.

'I know for a fact that you had a very pleasant and arousing dream. I could clearly hear your moaning and groaning. To top it all off, you even said my name.' Haruka couldn't hide his snickering anymore and started laughing loudly.

Makoto turned on his side and dragged Haruka with him. Because of Makoto's movement they were spooning now. Only when Makoto could feel his friend's torso against his back he realized what he had done with his movement.

'You sexy animal' Haruka whispered softly in Makoto's hear and he felt his friend shiver.

'You are a dick.' Makoto scoffed as he tried to create more distance between the two of them.

'That may be the case, but at least I'm not the one having problems in my southern regions.'

'Very funny.' Makoto said while trying to hide his embarrassment.

Haruka tried to suppress his laughing because he wanted to stop giving his friend a hard time. It was hard but they managed to stay quiet for a little while.

'How's your problem?' Haruka asked softly because he knew it was time to get some action going on again.

'It's gone.' Makoto said softly as he remembered the teasing that Haruka had performed a few minutes ago.

'What are we going to do next?' Haruka smiled a genuine smile at his friend.

'Either we do the jumping or we make the drawing.'

'Let's do the jumping first and then we can get something to eat. We'll do the drawing later this evening then.'

They both got up and searched for the jumping rope in the items that were left by Nagisa.

'Why is it bright pink?' Haruka scoffed with a disgusted voice. Not only did they have to complete this challenge outside while being tied up, they had to use a bright pink rope that could be seen from miles away.

'Let's just go outside.' Makoto smiled warmly at his best friend while trying to assess Haruka's mood.

They stood in Haruka's garden and prepared everything for this challenge. The camera was set up nicely and they had each had to hold one end of the rope.

'Ready?' Makoto asked softly.

'I've never done this before.' Haruka's whisper was barely audible.

'What do you mean? It's not that hard you know. We just have to make circles with the rope and then we jump at the right time.' Haruka barely listened to Makoto's explanation. He just knew that this was going to bring some embarrassing situations along.

They nodded at each other and gave it a go.

'We have to simultaneously jump over the rope otherwise it won't work!' Makoto shouted at his best friend.

'Well, excuse me for not being perfect like you!' Haruka shouted back while giving a hard tug at his end of the rope. The rope shot out of Makoto's hand and hit him in the face. Haruka stared in horror as he watched the scene in slow motion.

'You asshole!' was all the Makoto could say.

'I'm….sorry.' Haruka's whisper was laced with regret and sadness.

Makoto smiled at the raven-haired male and Haruka knew he was forgiven. He was very lucky to have such a wonderful and caring friend.

After 50 jumps they sat down to catch their breath. The challenge had proven to be quite difficult because of several reasons. Makoto was taller than Haruka so it took a while to adjust to the height difference. Makoto also used more force to make the rope spin so sometimes Haruka wasn't prepared for the jump at all.

When they had finally caught their breath they both stood up and completed the rest of the challenge. The rope skipping wasn't as bad as the other challenges so they were relieved that they had finally done something without any major incidents. Except for the slap in Makoto's face of course.

Two hours later the friends were enjoying their dinner. They had ordered a pizza because cooking together wasn't actually the easiest thing in the world. The two beautiful Gods had discussed a strategy to take revenge on Nagisa for this whole ordeal. They had shared laughs and smiles during the entire time. Haruka finally felt happy and content with the situation at hand. He was glad that he got to experience what it felt like to be this close to Makoto.

'So, let's make a drawing then.' The olive-haired male whispered softly. If there was one thing Makoto was really bad at, it was drawing. Every time he drew something he was sure that a puppy would die somewhere in the world.

'What are we going to draw?' Haruka wondered out loud. They were supposed to make something on the same sheet of paper. Haruka knew that Makoto's drawing skills were bad enough to make children cry. At least he would have his kicks by laughing while Makoto royally screwed up.

'How about we draw two Pokémons? Who's your favourite?' Haruka asked while smiling at his friend.

'I like Mudkip.' Makoto said with a warm smile. Of course, Makoto just had to take a very cute and small Pokémon.

'Well, I'm going for Gyarados.' Haruka said while dragging Makoto along to his favourite drawing spot.

They sat next to each other, each holding a pencil in their hand. Haruka immediately started drawing, effectively blocking out everything that surrounded him. Makoto just watched his friend in awe as Haruka drew his Pokémon without any effort.

'So, what have you got?' Haruka smiled at Makoto as the latter was awakened from his daydream.

Haruka stared at the sheet of paper and saw that Makoto had not even drawn a single line.

'Why aren't you drawing?' Haruka inquired while staring at his friend.

'Because I suck at it.' Makoto said softly.

'Alright, I'll help you.' Haruka said because he hated it when Makoto felt sad.

Haruka grabbed Makoto's hand and with a few swift movements, the perfect Mudkip could be seen on the paper. It was as if Makoto had finally made a perfect drawing and he felt royal. Makoto flashed the most beautiful smile at Haruka and they both enjoyed a moment of peace. This was probably the first challenge that had been a walk in the park.

They smiled at each other and then they simultaneously realized that tomorrow would be the real challenge. Tomorrow they had to go out and show the world that they were tied together. A sigh of relief escaped from Haruka's lips as he realized that they could at least face the big bad world. Together.

**Thank you all so much for the favs/follows! I would also like to thank the people that left a review! It's so sweet to see that people enjoy the story! Special thanks to the person that pointed out the typo in the title! You are my savior! 3**

**Stay tuned as tomorrow Makoto and Haruka will face the big bad world. **

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter and feel free to fav/follow or leave a comment. **


	3. Big bad world

_**Big bad world**_

Frustration and bitterness seeped into the room the boys were sitting in. It had been four hours and they still hadn't beaten the Supermeat boy game. Haruka was in charge of the character's running and Makoto needed to press the space bar to jump. The coordination was so off that the two hadn't spoken for two hours. Haruka had yelled at Makoto so hard and the latter had entered a state of extreme quietness for the first time in his life. Why would Haruka act like such a dick while playing a game? Sure they had died countless time and the game made you want to scream but still. Makoto felt sad and wished they hadn't been tied up together.

'Fuck this shit!' Haruka yelled and he hurled the computer mouse at the wall nearby. The mouse hit the wall so hard that it shattered into a few pieces that fell to the ground loudly. Makoto was shocked by the sudden outburst of his best friend. He had never seen Haruka so mad and upset. Makoto didn't even dare to speak to Haruka, afraid that he might get yelled at again.

Haruka covered his face and started sobbing softly. Makoto put his hand on Haruka's shoulder to show his compassion. It was already past midnight and they had only finished half of this brutal game. The fact that they had to sit behind a small computer screen didn't help either.

'I cannot take this shit anymore.' Haruka said softly as he looked up at the computer screen. Blood was splattered all over the saws that they had tried to avoid desperately with their character.

'Let's just go to bed and deal with this in the morning.' Makoto said softly as he tried to look into Haruka's beautiful sapphire eyes.

'We still have so many things to do and I want to finish this now.' Haruka said softly while placing his fingers on the keyboard again. Luckily they didn't need the computer mouse to play this game. Makoto was still thinking about the sudden burst of anger but he tried to concentrate on the game at hand.

'Let's make a deal.' Makoto said softly when they had died yet again.

'Hmm?' Haruka said while pressing the 'try again' button.

'Every time we die, we should laugh out loud.' Makoto said with a smile.

'Why?' Haruka said with a voice of annoyance as they hit another saw on the game.

'Because it will at least make us happy again.' Makoto said warmly as he finally paid full attention to the game again.

Haruka looked at Makoto and decided that he should at least try it out. He knew that whenever Makoto felt sad he would just laugh out loud and it helped wonders. Haruka's beautiful eyes looked at the computer screen and he decided to give it another go.

10 seconds later he heard Makoto laugh beside him as they had just fallen into a hole with spikes. He looked at his best friend and tried to laugh as well but all he could manage was a soft chuckle. At least it was something.

'The final level' Makoto exclaimed cheerfully as their torture would finally be over. They had been playing for six hours on end and they had received nothing but agony in return. Both of them suffered from a massive headache and aching tummy muscles from laughing so loud.

Two loud gasps filled the silent room as they realized they had beaten the game.

'We did it.' Haruka said softly while looking at the screen in disbelief. How did they manage to do this?

Their faces lit up like they had just received a gift from God. They hugged each other and basked in a moment of utter peace and contentment. This was the hardest challenge they had faced all day and they had beaten it together.

Makoto winked at Haruka and they both stared at the camera.

'Fuck you Nagisa.' They exclaimed simultaneously as they flashed their middle finger to the camera. They shut the camera off and went upstairs to finally get somewell-deserved rest.

* * *

They both stood in front of the door silently. They couldn't believe they actually had to go out like this. Of course, this moment couldn't have been avoided anymore but it was still something they had kept in the back of their minds. They had discussed their strategy and although it was a good plan, it didn't make it any less awkward. They were both wearing a shirt with long sleeves to cover up the cuffs a tiny little bit. While holding hands, the cuffs would be less visible but it was kind of gay to say the least.

'Ready?' Makoto whispered softly as he placed his hand on the doorknob.

'No.' Haruka said with an agitated voice but he give Makoto permission to open the door anyway.

Warm rays of sunlight hit their faces as they went outside. Synchronized walking wasn't a problem as they had always walked like that. Haruka decided to make the first move and he held Makoto's hand to make the cuffs less visible. They wished that they wouldn't meet too many people that they knew. Who were they kidding? Everybody knew everybody in this small town. They silently walked to school to enjoy a nice swim in the pool. Luckily they didn't meet too many people on the way there. The people they did meet stared rather suspiciously at the walking pair of Gods.

'We finally made it.' Makoto said while looking at his best friend. Haruka's face lit up a like a Christmas tree that was filled with colourful lights. He would finally feel the coolness that he had been yearning for since their prison time started. They went into the changing rooms and Makoto used the spare key to free themselves to they could get changed. Haruka waited rather impatiently for Makoto in the changing room. When Makoto came out of his stall, Haruka trusted his hand forward so that they could be tied together again. Makoto grinned at his friend and firmly locked the cuffs again. They walked over the pool and suddenly Makoto felt Haruka pulling rather roughly. Before Makoto realized it, he fell into the pool and he spluttered when he resurfaced.

'I thought we were going to warn each other before we made sudden movements.' Makoto scoffed lightly as he looked at Haruka's face. It always tugged at his heart when he saw his best friend like this. There was only once place where Haruka felt at peace and that was when he was engulfed by water.

Of course floating around in the pool didn't count to complete the swimming challenge. They had to actually swim twenty laps, ten free-style laps and ten backstroke laps. They had studied each other during the years but Haruka was only interested in his own style. He was proud of Makoto whenever they swam together but he didn't feel at ease now that he had to attempt the backstroke.

'Shall we do ten free-style laps first?' Makoto said softly while looking at Haruka with twinkling eyes.

Haruka nodded at the olive-haired boy and they moved towards the edge of the swimming pool. Diving into the pool was also impossible because the distance was too big. Haruka nodded once more and they attempted free-style swimming while being tied together. It had been really difficult at first but they managed to swim together quite fluently. Makoto had studied Haruka for years and he knew every movement the beautiful raven-haired male would make. Sometimes Makoto was so engrossed in staring at Haruka that Nagisa had often pulled all sorts of pranks on him. The worst one was when Nagisa had slapped Makoto's face with a mackerel.

'Shall we quickly do the other ten laps then? We still have quite some challenges to do.' Makoto said as he saw Haruka enjoying his blissful moments in the swimming pool.

Haruka looked up and realized that Makoto was right again. How many times has it been this way during their lives? Makoto was like a mister know-it-all and it made Haruka smile. Haruka didn't smile all that often, but when he did it would make every girl in the world orgasm spontaneously.

Haruka sighed deeply as he attempted the backstroke style with Makoto. The coordination was extremely difficult and Makoto always used more force when doing things. Haruka had never been this close to his best friend and he finally noticed that Makoto's strength was incredible. His muscles were to die for if he was really honest. After a bit of struggling they managed to do the ten laps.

'Five more minutes of floating around?' Haruka asked his friend softly as he fluttered his eyelashes at Makoto. It made Makoto's heart melt and he gave in instantly.

* * *

'I don't like taking photographs.' Haruka whined loudly as he saw Makoto pull out the camera to start with the next challenge.

'You do realize Nagisa's just going to get horny from watching our pictures right?' Haruka said with a mischievous smile.

'I hope not.' Makoto's face was laced with disgust and it was to die for, it made Haruka laugh loudly and he clenched his tummy because his muscles were tightening up.

They walked out of the changing rooms and headed towards the pool again.

'What kind of pictures does he want anyway? Did it say anything else other than that we have to wear our swimming trunks?' Makoto asked as he turned his face towards the male with the sapphire eyes.

'No idea.' Haruka said with a face of disinterest.

'Let's just try to be spontaneous.' Makoto said warmly and they set off to make some pictures to turn on the devil in person.

'Hey, these turned out really good!' Makoto exclaimed as they went through the pictures again. Haruka sighed deeply and sat on Makoto's lap to check out all the pictures they had made.

'I really like this one.' Makoto said softly as he looked at Haruka to gauge his reaction. The picture showed the two Gods sitting with their backs against each other. They didn't look at the camera but that didn't make the picture any less beautiful. Makoto felt his body warming up as he spotted a small smile on Haruka's face. Haruka hated pictures and seeing a small smile made Makoto happy.

'This one is way better!' Haruka exclaimed as Makoto showed the next picture. They were both grinning at the camera while flipping Nagisa off. It didn't even wonder Makoto when Haruka said he liked that picture. He knew that the raven-haired boy would take his sweet revenge on the devil soon enough.

'What about this one?' Makoto asked with a warm voice. It showed the two beautiful Gods laying with their face at each other, their foreheads firmly pressed against each other. Haruka didn't smile in this picture but he did flash the tip of his tongue at Makoto. The latter one had flashed his notorious smile and it made the picture royally gorgeous.

* * *

Nervously they stood in front of the supermarket while holding each other's hand. They had hoped it wouldn't be a busy day at the supermarket. Sadly enough, there were super sales today and the place was packed with people. Normal couples wouldn't have minded to hold hands but for them it was slightly different.

'Let's just quickly go in and grab the items we need.' Makoto said as he motioned Haruka to move inside the store with him.

With a deep sigh they entered the store and their courage sank in their shoes. The place was packed with people and they felt like crawling in a hole and die. Luckily the people were busy with filling their shopping carts so perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. They walked towards the aisle where candles were being sold.

'Which sent should we take?' Makoto asked while looking at Haruka.

'Why the fuck are there so many choices?' The raven-haired God said as he stared at the rows of candles.

'Because they all smell differently?' Makoto said while suppressing a smile. Of course Haruka never cared about candles because he wasn't a romantic person at all.

'Who cares what they smell like?' Haruka wondered out loud. He could never imagine sniffing each of these to find out which smell he preferred. Why did people waste their time on something so futile?

'Let's just take these, they smell like the ocean.' Makoto grabbed four candles and put them in their shopping basket.

Haruka groaned appreciatively as he thought of the ocean. Perhaps candles could be something he would use around the house from now on.

Haruka and Makoto moved towards the aisle where they sold all kinds of romantic items like the rose petals they needed to pick up.

'I really don't understand why people would use these.' Haruka said while looking at the bottle filled with rose petals.

'To set up a romantic scene?' Makoto said while grinning at Haruka.

'What if they are all over the bed and then one of those things finds its way between your butt cheeks? Wouldn't that be extremely awkard and annoying?' Haruka said with the most serious of voices while raising his eyebrows at the rose petals.

Makoto couldn't take it anymore and started laughing like he had never done before. Sometimes Haruka would make statements that you could never forget anymore.

'Perhaps you should stop laughing because people are staring.' Haruka whispered to Makoto as he eyed the people around him. When Makoto looked at Haruka,his eyes had teared up a little from laughing. One day Makoto would die from laughing with Haruka. As soon as Makoto stopped laughing, the hustle went on in the supermarket.

They walked towards the aisle with the bottles of alcohol.

'Which one should we take?' Makoto asked softly as he looked at all the bottles in front of him. He had seen his parents drink champagne but he had never tried it before.

'How would I know?' Haruka raised his eyebrows at Makoto and saw the latter grinning again.

'Can I help you?' A soft and beautiful voice tore them away from all the bottles in front of them.

A young girl with a smile to die for was looking at them with her beautiful amethyst eyes.

'Well…we, uhm…' Makoto started stuttering as he looked at the Goddess in front of him.

'We need a nice bottle of champagne for a romantic date.' Haruka said matter of factly. Of course the beautiful girl didn't intimidate him at all. The girl saw that the boys were holding hands and she shot a warm smile at the lovely duo in front of her.

She turned her attention to the bottles and she picked out a beautifully sculpted one.

'I hope you two like it.' She said softly as she handed the bottle to Haruka.

'Have fun on your date you two.' She said cheerfully and she even added a wink.

The duo watched as the Goddess walked away and they felt relieved that they would at least be able to drink something decent. God knows what kind of thing they would have picked out.

Makoto looked at the shopping list and he felt the ground sink beneath his feet. The condoms and the Vaseline were the only things they still needed to pick up.

Slowly they shuffled towards the aisle of doom. Makoto grabbed a small pot of Vaseline and put it in the basket. The two gods stood in absolute horror in front of the rows filled with condoms. They had never had sex before so they hadn't even thought about buying condoms.

'Which ones should we pick?' Makoto laughed nervously as he looked at the packets of condoms in front of him.

'Don't they have like ocean flavored ones? Those would match our candles you know.' Haruka said with a smile.

'Are you fucking insane? What kind of taste would that be? Nice and salty?' Makoto said with a face laced with disgust.

'Perhaps I should invent those.' Haruka said as he winked at Makoto.

How could Haruka be enjoying himself so much? Perhaps this was just his way of dealing with this incredible painful moment.

'We could take chocolate flavoured ones?' Makoto suggested as he picked out a packet.

'Ewwww?!' Haruka scoffed as he started at Makoto in horror. The idea of a brown condom wouldn't exactly turn Haruka on to say the least.

'Let's take regular ones then!' Makoto quickly said as they turned towards the section with regular condoms.

'Small, medium or large?' Haruka asked while looking at Makoto intently.

'How am I supposed to know?'

'Well, how big is your thing?' Haruka said while raising his eyebrows at Makoto. He never thought he would actually enjoy this moment.

'I'm not telling you! How big is yours?' Makoto turned the question towards Haruka and he answered with a simple sentence that would make you want to strangle someone.

'It's big enough.'

Makoto slapped his forehead and he turned towards his friend once more. Haruka smiled as he picked out a packet of medium sized condoms.

Quickly the duo headed towards the cash registers to ring up their items. They were both very annoyed as they saw the long lines of waiting people. Each minute crawled by slowly as they shuffled forward each time a customer was finished paying. Makoto glanced behind him and he saw an old lady with a walking stick behind him. Normally he would probably help the lady with bagging her items but he wanted to leave as soon as possible.

A shudder of relief ran through Makoto's body as he noticed it was their turn to pay for their items. It was awfully painful to watch their items move forward towards the cashier. However, the cashier just did her job and she didn't even pay attention to the items that were bought by the two Gods.

Haruka let go of Makoto's hand to grab his wallet from his back pocket. He could see Makoto bagging the items out of the corner of his eyes. Haruka waited patiently for the receipt but Makoto dragged him a bit further, effectively showing off the cuffs to the other customers.

'These boys are criminals and they are going to have a gay party!' the old lady shouted loudly as the two friends stared at the cuffs that were firmly attaching their hands together.

Makoto grabbed the bag and dragged a very surprised Haruka behind him as they ran out of the store.

'Stop them!' The old lady shouted as they darted towards the exit. Makoto quickly turned around to see if anyone was following them. He saw a younger man running after them while holding the walking stick of the old lady.

Haruka saw the alarmed face of his best friend and they ran out of the store as fast as they could. Why can't they have one moment of peace and quiet during these 48 hours of torture?

'Let's run towards the park!' Makoto shouted at Haruka as they ran for their lives. Makoto wondered whether they were being followed for being alleged criminals or gays. It didn't matter and Makoto quickly focused on running as fast as he could. When they arrived at the park they snuck behind some thick bushes and tried to catch their breath. Haruka made a small opening in the bushes to see if the man had followed them all the way. When he noted this wasn't the case he tried to relax a little bit. Suddenly he saw something very interesting that would definitely help him relax. He stood up and dropped his pants down to the ground.

Makoto stared at Haruka in a state of utter shock. He saw Haruka standing next to him in his swimming pants and that meant there was a water source nearby.

However, Makoto's attention didn't turn towards the water source but at a shady looking man that was wearing a long, black raincoat. He pulled Haruka's hand slowly and the latter turned around to look at the man standing near them.

'Hey boys, want to see my snorkel tube?'

**I had a lot of fun writing this chapter of tied together. I hope you all enjoyed reading it. The next chapter will be the last one and then this little story is complete :)**

**I would like to thank you all again for the sweet reviews! I love you all so much! Also thanks to the people that faved/followed this story :)**

**Stay tuned for the last chapter that will show the boys' reaction to the shady man. Also they will be singing and having their romantic moment in the tub :) I hope you stick with me for another chapter of this story.**


	4. Be my Hero

_**Be my Hero**_

Makoto's mouth fell open in shock and Haruka raised his eyebrows as he looked at the shady man. Haruka wasn't quite sure what the man had said or even meant with that comment. He felt Makoto tugging his hand and he wondered what the hell was going on.

'Let's just go!' Makoto shouted as he tried to drag Haruka along. He looked at Makoto and honestly didn't know why he was being so fussy.

Haruka finally started moving and only when the shady man opened his raincoat Haruka knew why Makoto wanted to run away. His mouth dropped open when he saw the naked old man in front of him. What the fuck was a guy like that doing in a park anyway?

They ran off and Haruka knew that he could never unsee what he had just seen.

'Did you see that guy's dick?' He asked Makoto as they had made a little stop to catch their breath.

'Of course not! At least I knew what was going to happen! Why didn't you move with me?' Makoko scoffed as he looked at his panting friend next to him.

'How do you know what guys in black raincoats are going to do?!' Haruka shouted back. Sometimes Haruka hated the fact that Makoto knew everything. Why would you even want to know something like that anyway?

'Never mind. Let's just go home.' Makoto said softly as he started walking. He held the bag of 'groceries' when he waited for Haruka to move with him.

'Oh fuck!' Haruka exclaimed as he suddenly stopped in the middle of the road.

'What?' Makoto asked softly as he turned to his friend.

'I forgot my pants in the park.' Haruka said with a small pout.

'I'm not going back there!' Makoto said matter of factly while raising his eyebrows at Haruka.

'Oh well, I'm way sexier in my swimming pants anyway.' Haruka said with a mischievous grin.

Makoto sighed deeply and they both started walking home. The truth was very simple. Haruka was indeed sexier in his swimming pants.

* * *

When the boys finally returned home they felt relieved and happy. Makoto dumped the bag of items on the counter in the kitchen. He smiled when he thought of the fact that they had to take a bath together later. It had been awhile when they had last done such a thing. Last time they were still small children and there was nothing wrong when two young boys took a bath together. However, now that they were older it was a little bit disturbing for most people. Luckily they weren't like ordinary people and Makoto couldn't wait for a moment of pure relaxation.

'Want to watch a movie while eating dinner?' Haruka asked Makoto who had a hard time focusing on his friend. His thoughts were still lingering in daydream land.

'Huh?' was the only sound Makoto could make as he looked at Haruka with puppy eyes.

'What were you thinking of?' Haruka asked when he saw that Makoto's cheeks had flushed a rosy pink.

'Nothing special.' The olive-haired male tried to hide his embarrassment by looking away.

Haruka decided to let it go as he was too tired and still too shocked to tease Makoto any further. He would probably get more teasing opportunities in the tub anyway.

Haruka was a little bit surprised when he heard his doorbell ring. Perhaps it was Nagisa to say that they had suffered enough. They both walked to the front door and were quite surprised as they saw who was standing outside.

'Mom?' Makoto said warmly as he smiled at his mother. He hadn't seen her since the ordeal started and he was quite surprised with her visit.

'I've brought you two some dinner as I know that you'll only eat junk if you two are together. Sometimes you two are so lazy!' She said while smiling at the two Gods.

'Thank you.' Haruka said as he stretched his hands out to take the plate from Mrs. Tachibana.

'What's that?' She pointed at the cuffs holding the two boys together.

'There's a really good explanation for this.' Makoto said while scratching the back of his neck and smiling nervously.

'Don't be embarrassed honey, I understand what you mean.' Mrs. Tachibana winked at her son and she smiled a warm smile.

'As long as I don't have to come free one of you two while being tied to the bed naked, everything's fine with me.'

'Mom! It's not like that.' Makoto looked at his mother with a look of shock.

'See you two tomorrow!' she said as she took off to her own house again.

Makoto could clearly hear his mother snickering, why was everybody teasing him so much today?

Haruka pulled Makoto behind him as they entered the living room to have a nice dinner.

'So how about that movie then?' Haruka asked Makoto once more and the latter nodded in agreement.

* * *

'What kind of film is this?!' Makoto shouted with his mouth full. A few chunks of food fell unto his plate again.

'Haven't you learnt any manners?' Haruka teased as he tried to suppress his smile.

'Why would you put on a horror movie while eating?' Makoto scoffed as he took another bite of food. He was enjoying his food and blood splattering all over the screen wasn't exactly something he liked when he was eating dinner.

'There was nothing else.' Haruka said while he turned his attention to the TV again. He didn't mind horror movies that much. Romantic themed movies were something that could make Haruka scream. He quietly enjoyed his food while watching pieces of humans being chopped off.

Makoto tried not to look at the TV anymore. He didn't feel like eating as he had just witnessed someone's head being chopped clean off. How in the world could Haruka still eat while watching this crap? Makoto sighed loudly as he pricked at his food. At least Haruka was enjoying himself. Makoto thought back on the past few hours and they been through quite a lot. He wondered what Nagisa would do when he saw the tape of everything they had been through. The bastard would probably put in on the internet or something. Or perhaps sell it to other students at school. These thoughts soured Makoto's mood even more. It was time for something that he could enjoy as well. He looked at Haruka and saw that the latter was looking at the screen with his full attention. Makoto smiled as an idea crept in his mind. He picked up a small piece of salmon and threw it at Haruka's face. The raven-haired male looked at Makoto suspiciously as he felt something warm against his cheek.

'What the fuck?' he said softly as he peered down his lap. The piece of salmon had bounced of his face and found its way to Haruka's lap.

'Did you just throw food at me?' Haruka said while eyeing Makoto with raised eyebrows.

'Why would I do that? You just spilled some of your own food.' Makoto found it hard to stay serious but he managed quite competently. Haruka sighed deeply and watched the TV again. He grabbed his cup of tea and pretended to drink from it. When he saw that Makoto was playing around with his shirt he made his move.

'What the fuck are you doing?' Makoto shouted as he could feel the tea streaming down his face.

'Repaying the favour.' The raven-haired God said while grinning at the now soaked Makoto. The latter couldn't let this pass so easily so he threw the rest of his food at Haruka. Some pieces even got stuck in his precious hair.

'You are such a dick!' Haruka shouted as he picked out some pieces of food from his hair.

'You deserved it!' Makoto stuck his tongue out and Haruka couldn't help but smile. How old were they? Five?

'Now we have to take a bath.' Haruka said while grinning his ass off. He couldn't wait to be engulfed by water again. Of course he had to share his precious wetness with Makoto but he didn't mind it that much.

* * *

The two boys were standing in the bathroom. How would they turn this into a romantic setting? Haruka looked at the items that Makoto had neatly set up on a small cabinet that stored towels. He didn't really know what he had to do. Sometimes he felt a little alien if he was honest. How would he ever let someone know how he truly felt about that person? Would he be blunt and just say what he wanted and expected? Perhaps he should try to voice his feelings in a more subtle way. How would Makoto do it anyway? Haruka was curious and he felt like he could ask Makoto when they were sitting in the tub. Surely Makoto would come up with a reasonable answer like usually. Haruka shuffled behind Makoto as he turned the bathroom in a romantic setting.

Makoto had set up the candles on every corner of the bathtub. Haruka was in charge of filling the tub with water of a soothing temperature. He knew that Makoto always liked lukewarm water so he tried his best to fulfil the wishes of the olive-haired male. Makoto opened the bottle with the rose petals and he sprinkled some of them on the water. Haruka looked at the floating rose petals and was still not convinced of their purpose. What was the advantage of adding them to the water? He thought that water was already perfect enough on its own.

He shuffled to the cabinet again as Makoto started to open the bottle of champagne.

'Do you even know what you are doing?' Haruka asked Makoto softly as he saw that his friend was struggling.

Just when Haruka was about to offer his help Makoto turned towards Haruka and the cork flew from the bottle. Makoto's mouth dropped open as he saw the object flying towards Haruka's face. The cork hit Haruka's nose with full force and the latter covered his nose with his free hand.

Makoto stopped breathing as he watched Haruka stay motionless. Perhaps Haruka would just laugh with it and they could finally get their fun in the tub.

'Are you trying to kill me?' Haruka said with a menacing voice.

'I didn't mean to hit you.' Makoto whispered softly as he tried to create some distance between himself and the raven-haired God. Makoto felt scared as he thought back of the tantrum that Haruka had thrown yesterday.

'I'm really sorry.' Makoto said while trying to look into Haruka's eyes. Maybe if he fluttered his eyelashes at his best friend everything would be ok again.

'Touch me again and I will drown you.' Haruka said with a grin on his face. Sure his nose was hurt but it wasn't bad enough to actually be mad at Makoto. He had always found it hard to be mad at his best friend and he promised himself that it would stay that way.

Makoto had quickly filmed the entire bathroom and he had secretly pointed the camera at Haruka as well. Haruka didn't even notice as he was staring at the tub anyway.

'Are you ready?' Makoto asked as he set the camera on the small cabinet.

'Ready as I will ever be.' Haruka smiled a big smile and it was the most gorgeous thing Makoto had ever seen.

They stepped in the bathtub with their knees pressed against one another. There wasn't that much space in the tub but they had managed to sit comfortably.

Haruka picked up one of the rose petals and studied it closely.

'Can I ask you a question?' Haruka asked while dropping the petal in the water again.

'Sure, you know you can ask me anything.' Makoto said sweetly while smiling at the raven-haired male.

'How would you show your love towards someone?' Haruka asked softly while he felt a blush creep up to his cheeks.

'I would just try to be with that person as much as possible. Without looking like a creepy stalker of course.' Makoto said with a smile.

'I think it's also important to leave subtle hints. A few small and innocent touches help wonders I think. Also it's important to smile and feel at ease with your special one. You should probably make the person feesl at ease with you as well.' Makoto was softly speaking to Haruka and the raven-haired male listened closely to his friend.

He enjoyed peaceful moments with Makoto more than anything in the world. It dawned on him that they would actually be the perfect couple. They had many things in common yet they were totally different people. Makoto was always open en cheerful while Haruka tried to play it cool. Of course Makoto was the only one that could make Haruka do things he would normally never do in front of others. Haruka's mind drifted to a place where he and Makoto would be forever alone. Well, not surrounded by other people. It would seem like the perfect place for Haruka.

Suddenly he was rudely awakened from his dream as he felt a splash of water on his face.

'Why did you splash me? I don't think that's romantic at all!' Haruka scoffed as he tried to suppress his goofy grin.

'Staring off into the distance isn't romantic either.' Makoto said while splashing Haruka once more.

'Oh shit!' Haruka exclaimed as he pulled himself from the tub. Makoto stared at his friend in confusion as he watched Haruka leave the tub. Was he really that upset about a few splashes of water?

'We almost forgot our champagne.' Haruka said when he tried to reach out for the glasses that were standing just inches away.

Makoto smiled at Haruka as he grabbed the glass from his friend. Haruka sat on the edge and smiled warmly at Makoto. Haruka sniffed his drink and it made Makoto chuckle.

'Why did you smell it? That's not exactly what I would do on a real date you know.' Makoto said while raising his eyebrows at Haruka.

'What if it smelled funny? If something doesn't smell good I don't want to drink it.' Haruka felt the need to explain his actions and so he did.

'Don't you consider this a real date?' Haruka inquired softly as he sat down in the tub again.

'Well, perhaps this could be considered a date.' Makoto said as he felt his cheeks getting warm.

'To our first date then.' Haruka said while gazing into the beautiful emerald eyes of his best friend.

* * *

They both sat at the piano for hours on end. They practiced and had laughed many times as Haruka screwed up royally again. After their romantic encounter in the bathtub Makoto couldn't be mad at his friend and his screw ups. This was their last challenge and Makoto enjoyed it while it lasted. Haruka had tried his best to remember all the keys he had to press but his mind was filled with different thoughts. Perhaps this was what it felt like to be in love?

Haruka listened closely as Makoto sang along while they played together. Of course Makoto was able to sing perfectly, what wasn't perfect about him? Haruka enjoyed listening to Makoto and he would probably ask him to sing songs to him during their sleepovers in the future.

'Want to sing along?' Makoto asked softly as they were ready to play their song again. Haruka was very hesitant at first but he felt better as Makoto promised not to laugh. Haruka figured people would start bleeding from their ears every time he sang. He had tried it once while he was sitting in his tub but he didn't even like it that much. Sometimes he wished he could be more carefree like Makoto or Nagisa.

The two beautiful Gods started playing and during the chorus Haruka had finally mustered up enough courage to sing along. Makoto looked at his friend and nodded appreciatively. Perhaps Haruka's singing wasn't so bad after all.

After another hour of practice they had recorded their final version of the last challenge. They were both pleased and they had been proud of themselves. Haruka only made two mistakes and he had never felt better in his entire life. The hardest challenge of them all was finally complete. All they had left was a night together in the same bed.

Haruka looked down at the keyboard and he felt a sadness creeping up in his body. His 'jail' time with Makoto was almost over and he didn't like it. He had minded it at first but being this close to Makoto had many advantages. Haruka had never felt more alive than the past 40 hours and he didn't want it to end. He didn't feel ordinary and he found a new reason to live. If only he had the courage to tell Makoto how he truly felt.

Makoto stood up to turn the camera off. All of their challenges were neatly recorded and he laughed at all the silly things they had been through. Nagisa would surely get his kicks while watching the video.

* * *

'Shall we go to bed then?' Makoto asked while looking at Haruka. Makoto wondered what had been bugging Haruka for the last 5 minutes. He seemed so cheerful and alive during the practice and he wondered what he could do to make Haruka feel happy again.

They laid in their bed in silence. It was very peaceful and they both listened to each other's breathing. Makoto peeked at Haruka and he noticed that Haruka was looking outside the small bedroom window. He would give a million to know what Haruka was thinking of.

'What are you thinking of?' Makoto inquired softly as he brushed his fingers against Haruka's.

'The past few hours.' Haruka said softly while turning to Makoto.

'We had a good time didn't we?' Makoto said while grinning like a loon at Haruka.

'Good times.' Haruka said while smiling sweetly at Makoto.

'There is one thing that I still want to do.' Haruka's whisper was barely audible.

Makoto tilted his head a little bit as he wondered what Haruka would possibly want to do while being tied together. Haruka shuffled closer and felt his heart pounding in his chest. How would he handle this? Would he kiss Makoto softly or forcefully? How would Makoto react to his kiss?

Before Haruka's thoughts escaped his mind he felt Makoto's soft lips against his own and he finally felt that sweet tingle in his entire body. So this is what it truly feels like to be head over heels. Haruka enjoyed the sweet encounter with his friend and they closed their eyes to deepen the kiss. Their tongues found each other and they danced a slow and seductive dance.

'_I can be your hero.' _Makoto whispered softly against Haruka's lips.

'_Hold me in your arms tonight.' _was Haruka's soft reply as the two beautiful Gods locked lips again.

That night they realized they would always be together no matter what happened. They would take the same hurdles and they would help each other as much as possible. They didn't care what happened as long as they were together. That's how it would be from now on. Forever. Together.

**This was the last chapter and I know the end was a bit cheesy but I couldn't help myself :) I love romance! :) I really hope you enjoyed this story and I want to thank you all again for the love and support! :)**

**I do not own Free! Nor do I own the song that they performed as a challenge. But thank God for that song because it is beautiful!**


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